ABSTRACT
A recent article by Sasha Issenberg argued that several parties in different countries are nowadays inspired by one ‘unique creation of the American 20th century’ and are introducing party primaries for choosing their leaders or candidates for office, strengthening the quality of party internal democracy. Issenberg notes that several parties ‘in France, Italy, Argentina and Canada are now led by figures chosen under new systems designed to spur intramural competition by widening the circle of people empowered to choose party leaders’, and the same goes for candidates nominated to be on party lists. The article is an example of the increasing visibility gained by the topic in recent years, and not only within academia.1
